Discovery’s “Shark Week” again took a big bite out of the competition, with this year’s edition ranking as the highest-rated ever in many demos and lifting the network to No. 1 finishes for all of television in some of these categories.
The network will issue updated Live+3 ratings later in the week, but in Nielsen’s “live plus same-day” estimates, “Shark Week” averaged a 1.46 coverage rating in the network’s target adults 25-54 demo — edging out last year’s 1.42 rating as the best on record since the event bowed in 1988.
This was also the highest-rated Shark Week to date in other categories including adults 18-49 (1.36 coverage rating, tied with 2013) and all key female demos. In total viewers, this year’s goes down as the second most-watched (2.503 million), up 1% from last year and behind only 2013 with 2.562 million).
On a total-day basis, Shark Week 2015 was the most-watched ever with an average of 1.269 million viewers throughout the event — besting the previous high of 1.201 million in 2013.
The most-watched programs during the July 5-11 Shark Week were Wednesday’s “Super Predator” (3.355 million) and the opening-night pair of “Island of the Mega Shark” (3.281 million) and “Monster Mako” (3.265 million). “Super Predator” (pictured) and “Monster Mako” tied as the top program in adults 18-49 (1.51 national rating), and “Monster Mako” set the pace in adults 25-54 (1.60 national rating).
“Shark Week” helped boost Discovery to its second highest-rated Monday-Sunday week on record in adults 25-54 (1.39 coverage rating), behind only a March 2000 week (1.42) that included “Raising the Mammoth.”week of July 6-12. It ranked No. 1 among all broadcast and cable networks in men 18-49 and adults, men and women 18-34.
The premiere of “Naked and Afraid XL” also contributed to the big Nielsen week for Discovery, as the docu-series led all of cable Sunday night in adults 18-49 (1.2), adults 25-54 (1.4), adults 18-34 (1.1) and men 18-49 (1.3), according to live plus same-day national ratings.
